Hlane Royal National Park

Basic facilities at a hide overlooking Hippo Pool in the southern part the park.

Hlane Royal National Park is a national park in Eswatini, roughly 67 km northeast of Manzini along the MR3 road.[1] Prior to the park being public, it was a private royal hunting ground.[1] Hlane, meaning 'wilderness',[2] was named by King Sobhuza II.[3] It is now held in trust for the Nation by His Majesty King Mswati III,[3] and is managed by Big Game Parks, a privately owned body.[4]

Contents

It is Swaziland's largest protected area[5] and park.[1] The park and its adjacent dispersal areas covers 30,000 hectares (300 km2) of Swazi bushveld.[3] It is a flat lowland area, covered with ancient hardwood trees like knobthorn, leadwood and tambuti, with some grasslands and shallow pans.[3]

A network of game-viewing roads criss-cross the park's flat terrain. Accommodation is available in thatched huts and cottages at two different sites.[3] The main site is near the park entrance from MR3, Hlane Camp. The other site is Bhubesi Camp, almost at the northern end of the park. The road between them requires high clearance to navigate, so with a normal car it is best to drive all the way around the park to get between them.

The park was bisected by the MR3 Highway in the 1960s, under pressure from sugar estates at the park's borders. They claimed that the highway would cause no environmental damage, but now hundreds of antelopes, wild boar, buffaloes and other game are struck by vehicles each year.[6]